The invention relates generally to bearing housing cooling and, more particularly, to methods and systems related to isothermal cooling of bearing housing in turbine engines by oil impingement.
A turbine engine may include a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine coupled to the compressor. Air entering the compressor is compressed and delivered to the combustor. The combustor can include a plurality of combustor cans to which the compressed air and fuel are delivered to produce high-velocity and high-pressure combustion gases. The combustion gases are ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow that is discharged to the turbine. The turbine extracts energy from the combustion gases for producing power that may be used, for example, to power the compressor, to power and electrical generator, or to power an aircraft.
The turbine engine may include shafts connecting various sections of the turbine. The shafts may be mounted for rotation about a central axis of the turbine engine relative to a stationary frame of the turbine engine using one or more bearing assemblies housed in a bearing compartment.
As operating speeds of the turbine engines have increased to improve output and efficiency, temperature in the bearing compartments and/or bearing assemblies have also increased. In addition, the temperature of the bearing compartments and/or bearing assemblies have increased due to reduced size of bearing compartments in efforts to reduce the overall size and weight of the turbine engine. Conventional approaches that use, for example, air or fluid to cool the bearing compartments and/or bearing assemblies are not able to maintain the temperature of the bearing compartments and/or bearing assemblies below desired temperatures. In addition, conventional approaches do not provide appropriate distribution of air or fluid to adequately cool the bearing compartment. Without adequate cooling, the bearing assemblies may experience increased wear and tear and/or result in undesirable fluid cooking.